Untitled
by Neko Mastermind
Summary: [MomoRyo?] Momo notices Ryoma's just not himself today.


Title: Untitled  
Genre: fluff/general  
Characters: Momoshiro+Ryoma  
Comments: My first TeniPuri fic. ^^;;  Just some random general-fluffness between my favorite pairing.  Shounen-ai hints if you look, I guess.  
Word Count: 1550  
Status: Complete as of 12/21/03.  
  
  
  
Throughout the whole day Ryoma had been acting...weird. He had shown up late for morning practice looking like hell - dark circles underlined his eyes and his skin was paler than normal. But Ryoma - being the stubborn kid he was - joined practice as if nothing was wrong. Even after Oishi - who was the first to notice (being Seigaku's resident mother, after all) - gave Ryoma permission to skip practice, the freshman uttered a simple "I'm fine" and continued.  
  
But that wasn't the only thing.  
  
When Momo came by during lunchtime to join Ryoma and his three freshmen friends, Echizen was hardly paying attention when the older boy snatched one of his sandwiches. In fact, he didn't seem to care, either.  
  
"Oi, Echizen," Momo said after finishing off said sandwich and turning away from whatever Horio was talking about. Not receiving a response, Momo leaned over and tapped him on the shoulder. "Echizen." He said again, louder.  
  
Ryoma blinked out of his daze and turned to his sempai. "Eh?"  
  
"You okay?" Momoshiro asked, raising an eyebrow.   
  
Ryoma blinked again before shrugging. "...I'm fine." He muttered.  
  
"You don't look fine," Momo muttered in return, low enough for only Echizen to hear. The freshman only gave him a Look then folded his arms on the table and laid his head down.  
  
Momo snorted and reached over to ruffle his kouhai's hair. "Oi, if you're not feeling good, maybe you should skip practice later."  
  
Batting his hand away half-heartedly, Ryoma raised his head enough to shoot a glare at the sophmore. "I'm fine." He repeated, then dropped his head.  
  
Momo frowned slightly. He knew the kid was stubborn, but this was being ridiculous! If he was sick, Ryoma should have just stayed home, not come to school and risk making whatever-it-was he had worse.  
  
"Baka," Momo grumbled before digging into another sandwich.  
  
***  
  
"Love-40!"  
  
It was a shock, truly. Momo stared at the freshman from his side of the court as Ryoma mumbled something under his breath and stepped to the base line, digging a ball out of his pocket.   
  
It may have been only a practice game, but Ryoma was never one to let anyone beat him, even then. And so far, Momo had one game up on Echizen.  
  
"Waaah! Momo-chan-sempai is beating Echizen!" Horio yelped from somewhere nearby, eyes wide. Kachirou and Katsuo both paused, balls forgotten in their arms to stare at the game with similar looks of shock.  
  
"This ain't right," Momo muttered as he lowered himself into a ready position, awaiting Echizen's serve.  
  
"Ah! He's going to use his Twist Serve!" Horio yelled.  
  
And Ryoma did just that. Momo watched as the ball sailed towards him, then moved into a better position to return it.   
  
The ball hit the ground...  
  
...and bounced right back up, like any other normal serve.  
  
Eyes widening, Momo quickly switched positions again and hit it. On the other side of the court, Ryoma scrambled (Echizen *scrambled*?!) to return it, letting out a grunt of frustration as he missed by mere centimeters.  
  
"Game - Momoshiro!"  
  
"Oi, Echizen! Are you *sure* you're okay!" Momo called, resting the racket over his shoulder.  
  
"I'm fine!" Ryoma grounded out, a little harsher than he wanted. Momo grunted and walked up the net, removing his racket from his shoulder and pointing it at Ryoma.  
  
"You are *not* fine, stop saying that. Obviously somethin's up with you, so why don't ya just give it a rest already?!"  
  
About to bite back a rather angry retort, Echizen was cut off when Oishi stepped on the court. "Echizen, Momo's right. Why don't you take the rest of the day off and go home and rest."  
  
"Che'." Ryoma snorted. He glared at everyone gathering around to watch before stalking off the clubhouse.  
  
"Momo," Oishi said after Ryoma was out of earshot. "Why don't you go with him and make sure he gets home okay?"  
  
"Hai hai, Okaa-san!" Momo forced a grin, picking up his Regulars jacket and throwing it on, then proceeding after the freshman.  
  
Ryoma was packing up his bag when Momo entered the clubhouse.  
  
"Oi, ready to go?" He asked, dropping his racket into his bag.  
  
The freshman glanced up and gave Momo a quizical look. "Eh?"  
  
"I'm bringing you home," The sophmore explained, grinning. "Gotta make sure my favorite freshman makes it home in one piece, ne?"  
  
Ryoma snorted and stood up, hefting his bag over his shoulder. "Whatever," He mumbled, walking past Momo and out the door. Momo grinned wider and followed after.  
  
  
***  
  
"So what's wrong with you anyway?" Momo said, folding his hands behind his head and peering at Ryoma. He slowed his pace until he was walking next to him.  
  
Echizen gave him a Look, then shrugged. "Nothing's wrong."   
  
"Echizen, you look terrible, you were spacing out all day, and I was beating you back at practice."  
  
"..."  
  
"You gettin' sick or something?"  
  
Ryoma sighed and brought a hand up to rub his temple. "Maybe." he muttered.  
  
Momo smiled slightly and reached over to ruffle the freshman's hair. "see, now was that so hard to say? It's not a big deal, Echizen. Everyone gets sick."  
  
Ryoma batted away the hand half-heartedly, then ran his hand through his hair to fix it. "I don't like getting sick."  
  
"It's probably just a cold," Momo replied, looking up thoughtfully. "But you still should take it easy so it don't get worse, ya know?"  
  
"It's not that big a deal." Echizen said, rubbing his temples again.  
  
Momo eyed him for a moment, then shrugged. "If you say so." He said simply.  
  
They arrived at Ryoma's home a few minutes later, finding it surprisingly empty. "They must have gone shopping," Ryoma mumbled as he kicked off his shoes.  
  
"Eeeeeh," Momo hummed, kicking off his own shoes. "Even that crazy monk isn't here." Stetching his arms over his head, Momo let out a sigh and turned to Ryoma. "well?"  
  
"Well what?" Ryoma replied, wandering towards the kitchen. Momo followed behind, raising an eyebrow. "Aren't you going to rest?"  
  
"Why?" Ryoma looked over his shoulder. "I'm not tired."  
  
Momo rolled his eyes and grabbed Echizen by the shoulders. "You're sick, you should rest." He said, leading the freshman towards the stairs.  
  
"But I'm not tired," Echizen replied, grabbing the doorframe and clinging to it.  
  
"Stubborn brat," Momoshiro mumbled. "Don't make me carry you."  
  
Ryoma gave him a look that clearly said "Try it and die."  
  
Momo grinned back and loomed towards him. "You're such a brat," He chuckled, picking Echizen up and craddling him in his arms.  
  
"Momo-sempai, let me go!" Ryoma yelped. Momo ignored him as he walked up the stairs, tightening his grip as the freshman started squirming.  
  
"Stop that! Do you want me to drop you?"  
  
"Let me down!"  
  
"Nope."  
  
Momoshiro kicked open the door to Ryoma's room and stepped in. Karupin immediately woke up from his nap on Ryoma's bed and greeted them with a surprised "meow!".  
  
The sophmore placed Ryoma down in the middle of the room and gave him a stern look. "Alright kid, get changed and get in bed."  
  
Ryoma crossed his arms and glowered. "Yada."  
  
"Get changed!"  
  
"Yada!"  
  
"Don't make me do it for you!"  
  
Both boys blushed at Momo's exclamation. Not about to back down, Momo crossed his arms and glared. "I'll do it, Echizen."  
  
Ryoma blushed more but complied, turning towards his dresser and pulling out a pair of pajama pants and an over-sized shirt. Momo sat on the bed and played Karupin as Ryoma changed, grinning triumphantly. Ryoma scowled at him the entire time he changed.   
  
"There." Ryoma grumped when he finished, crossing his arms. "Now what?"  
  
"Now you gotta rest," Momo replied, standing up and motioning to the bed. Ryoma pulled back the covers and crawled in. "Baka," Ryoma muttered, glaring up the grinning sophmore.  
  
"Is that any way to treat your caring sempai?" Momo asked, a tone of mock-hurt lacing his voice. "The guy who walked you all the way home? I'm hurt, Echizen. Truly."  
  
"Baka," Ryoma muttered again, snuggling down in the blankets. He yawned widely, then scowled as Momo laughed.  
  
Momo picked up Karupin and placed him next to Echizen, smiling as the cat immediately snuggled close to the boy and started purring. "You make sure he doesn't get out of bed, okay kitty?" He said, scratching the cat behind the ears.  
  
"Nyao." Karupin mewed, curling up into a ball. Ryoma snorted and closed his eyes.  
  
"Get some rest," Momo said, reaching over to lightly ruffle Ryoma's hair. "I'll stick around a while in case you need something."  
  
"You're staying?" Ryoma asked, opening his eyes to blink at Momo.  
  
Momoshiro blinked back. "Well, yeah." He muttered, rubbing his head and looking off to the side.  
  
"What about practice?"  
  
"I'm sure Oishi-sempai won't mind. Now get some rest."  
  
Ryoma shrugged, then closed his eyes and snuggled back into the cover. Smiling slightly, Momo turned to leave the room.  
  
"Momo-sempai?"  
  
The sophmore turned around, raising an eyebrow as Ryoma sat up. "Yeah?"  
  
Was Echizen blushing? "...thanks." He mumbled, staring at his lap.  
  
"Eh?"  
  
"For...caring. Thanks."  
  
A wide smile spread across Momo's face. "No problem.".  
  
Ryoma glanced up and smiled slightly, then laid back down. Momo smiled wider as he watched Echizen fall asleep, then quietly left the room.


End file.
